Lyric Theatre opens its autumn season with a Lyric Theatre production of Burnt Out (Sat 7 Oct-Sat 4 Nov), a new play from award winning playwright Gary Mitchell. Directed by the Lyric’s executive producer Jimmy Fay, featuring a stellar cast led by Kerri Quinn (Coronation Street and Hope Street).
The production is the opening event for this year’s Belfast International Arts Festival (7 Oct) and is the highlight production of the theatre’s autumn season programme.
Burnt Out reveals the darker side of suburban life in Belfast when a ‘have it all’ couple unwittingly move to a new home opposite a bonfire site. On the surface Michael (Terence Keeley) and Cheryl (Kerri Quinn) have it all: a posh house, good jobs, and 2.4 pets – Lancer the Alsatian and Scamper the cat.
But the everyday stresses of a married couple turn to something more sinister. This psychological thriller, which also stars Caolan Byrne, Caroline Curran and Shannen McNeice, follows the couple as their perfect life unravels into a disorientating nightmare of suspicion, paranoia, and intimidation.
Burnt Out was one of three dynamic new works developed as part of an audio series called ‘Listen at the Lyric’, which offered audiences an exclusive ‘first listen’ of brand-new work from emerging, established and new Northern Ireland writers. ‘Listen at the Lyric’ was part of the theatre’s continued commitment to keeping the spirit of the Lyric alive whilst its doors were closed due to the impact of the pandemic in autumn/winter 2020.
Jimmy Fay, Director of Burnt Out, said:
“I am delighted to be directing Gary’s new play Burnt Out as I have been a long admirer of Gary’s work ever since I saw “A Little World of Our Own” at the Abbey some years ago. I think Gary is one of our most provocative and arresting writers. His dialogue is second to none and he creates situations for his characters that are often volatile and chilling but truthful to the environment he is probing.
Gary has no fear in exploring the darker side of human behaviour but so many of characters also display warmth, wit and understanding. He is a fascinating writer always inventive and inquisitive. I am also delighted to be working with this outstanding cast and creative team.”
Award winning playwright and writer of Burnt Out, Gary Mitchell commented:
“When I started writing, my ambition was to have a play on in the Lyric, having achieved it ten times, my new ambition is to have eleven plays on in the Lyric, that’s what this theatre means to me.”
Alison McCrudden, Head of Literature, Drama and Dance, Arts Council of Northern Ireland, said:
“The Arts Council of Northern Ireland is delighted to support Burnt Out, a thrilling Lyric Theatre Production written by Gary Mitchell and directed by Jimmy Fay. The play opens the 2023 Belfast International Arts Festival and I would encourage everyone to go along and enjoy it this autumn.”
Tickets for Burnt Out start from only £15 and are available to book now on www.lyrictheatre.co.uk. Follow the Lyric on Twitter and Instagram @LyricBelfast and Facebook @LyricTheatreBelfast.
The Lyric Theatre is supported by Arts Council of Northern Ireland National Lottery funding and Belfast City Council.
About the Lyric
The Lyric Theatre is a playhouse for all.
We are a shared, open, welcoming place to meet and exchange ideas; changing lives through our commitment to creativity and cultural talent.
Since 1951, this special place has been a springboard for internationally acclaimed playwrights, poets, directors and actors, helping to showcase talent across the world – most recently touring our production of Good Vibrations to the Irish Arts Center New York.
As Northern Ireland’s only full-time theatre to produce its own productions from page to stage, we care deeply about maintaining a high-quality and inclusive programme that captures the imaginations of our audiences. We were recently named UK’s Theatre of the Year 2023 in recognition of the massive impact we make off our stages, doing things most of us don’t ever see – supporting hundreds of writers to develop their work; directly engaging with tens of thousands of children and young people every year in communities and schools; creating pathways to employment; and nurturing and training young actors through our Drama Studio.
